Electric Motor Shop - Fresno, California

Bekins Building - Fresno, California

Lightroom is an amazingly powerful photo "developing" program.  I am continuously impressed by how much you can increase the visual value of even the least interesting photographs. That isn't to say that I find the Bekins Storage building uninteresting; just the opposite is so. I love interesting architecture, abandoned buildings, and the contrast between eras. Actually, this building is so much more interesting than modern warehouses and storage facilities. My point about the power of Lightroom to convert "least interesting" photos was because the original photo was not taken in particularly good light, but I was able to save the shot by running it through Lightroom.

What makes Van Gogh so great (ottawacitizen.com)

What makes Van Gogh so great
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Entertainment/What makes Van Gogh so great/6647507/story.html

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Dead Tree at Buzzard's Roost

This dead tree reminded me of so many of the drawings of creepy trees in books when I was a kid.  It looks like a screaming monster with a yawning mouth; one hand clutching the earth and the other reaching up to the sky.  This scene was shot with a Nikon D90 and then developed in Adobe Lightroom.  The tree is on the Buzzard's Roost Trail at Millerton Lake, California.

How to Annoy an Artist

Giant

Here is a recent doodle using a Laban Mento fountain pen (M nib) with Noodler's Kiowa Pecan ink. 

Smart Phone Fidgets

My smart phone has increased my fidget factor when I am out.  I'm not a big talker and love to have something to do with my hands when everyone is talking.  I don't play games, text, or check e-mail - I'm not that rude.  But I love to play with the camera.  I used to bring a sketchbook and sketch when I was out with people.  In my teens and twenties, that was cool and not only did it not offend anyone, my friends actually liked it.  But now at age 51, it is no longer cool and definitely viewed as rude.  So, now I bring my smart phone and take pictures at the table. Since everyone brings their phones everywhere now, I can get away with this. Ironically, I am one of the few people who refuses to answer his phone at meals, because that seems rude to me. Now if everyone would just bring sketchbooks and plop them on the table, I'd still prefer that, but I don't live in an art compound, so that's not going to happen.

When everyone is busily engaged in conversation, I snap a few photos of people, which always come out blurry because it is dark.  But then I can sneak out a few still life shots, like this one of the wine glass and silverware.  It is not a great shot but I like the stark contrast of the black and white image.  The photo was not processed in any way. This is it straight out of the camera (HTC Eris). I changed the settings on the camera to BW and was able to steady it well enough to get a decent low light picture.

Here's another way to get a clear low-light picture with a smart phone: The color photo of the parking garage was taken by pressing the phone against the window of the hotel room, which steadied it enough to make it a clear photo.  Not a great photo but I was bored.  How can cable have so many programs and still have nothing to watch?